SAN BERNARDINO – With three players posting double figures in kills and four players doing the same in digs, Cal State San Bernardino improved to 3-1 in the CCAA conference and 10-2 overall with a 3-1 victory over visiting Cal State East Bay.
It was the Yotes 16
th straight win over the Pioneers and lead the series between the two teams 26-3. And, it became the 67
th straight regular season home victory for the Yotes dating back to September 2015.
The Pioneers are now 4-7 overall and 0-4 in the CCAA following the four-set match in which the Yotes prevailed 25-18, 23-25, 25-19 and 25-18.
Offensively, the Yotes were led by freshman
Trinity Sheridan with 14 kills to go with 12 digs and two block assists. Junior
Savannah Hoffmann had 13 kills on .270 hitting with three block assists. Senior middle blocker
Jenna Patton posted 12 kills, hitting .524 with only one attack error, four block assists and five service aces.
Freshman Kacie Pederson added seven kills and 11 digs. Senior setter
Marlee Nunley had a big night with 38 assists, 10 digs and a service ace to her credit. Defensive specialist
Shira Lahave led all defenders with 19 digs, seven assists and a service ace.
"Happy to sweep our first conference weekend at home," said Head Coach
Kim Cherniss. "Jenna was a dominant force on the court tonight in all facets of the game. Additionally, Shira was spectacular for us on defense and from the service line."
Kara Green paced the Pioneers with 14 kills on .308 hitting with 11 digs and two block assists. Lexi Pagani had 10 kills, two of her team's nine service aces and two block assists. The Pioneers got 35 assists from setters Megan Crecelius and Pi'ilani Carvalho.
After taking the first set, the Yotes opened up a 13-9 lead in the second set, but the Pioneers rallied to tie the set at 15-15 on a service ace, then took a 17-15 lead on another service ace.
With the set tied again at 22, East Bay's Gloria Alexandria delivered a kill and Taunafa Tuinauvai followed with another and the Pioneers evened the match.
In the pivotal third set, CSUSB took a 17-13 lead on a kill by Pederson and made it a 21-15 advantage on a service ace by Patton. Kills by
Taryn King and Sheridan and an East Bay error closed out the set for the Yotes.
The Yotes jumped out to a 4-0 lead and were up 12-5 on a Patton kill and extended the lead to 18-9 on an East Bay attack error. After the Pioneers added a point, Patton promptly served three straight aces for a 22-10 advantage.
East Bay went on a run and narrowed the gap to 24-18, but Sheridan slammed the door at match point with a kill off an assist by Nunley.
UP NEXT: The Yotes go on the road to visit Cal State L.A. at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29 and play at Cal State Dominguez Hills at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30. Both games will be streamed on the CCAA network.
